Don't Forget the Lyrics!
Don't Forget the Lyrics! was a sing along game show where players have to fill in missing lyrics to win big. Gameplay In this show, a single contestant was prompted to complete song lyrics for increasing amounts of money. After each correct answer, the contestant could continue playing, risking what has already been earned, or quit the game and take home all the money he or she had already earned. If the contestant continued playing and correctly completed all the song lyrics, he or she was given a lyric from a number 1 hit to complete. If the contestant completed the final lyric correctly, he or she won the grand prize. The primary difference between Don't Forget the Lyrics and other music-based game shows was that artistic talent (such as the ability to sing or dance in an aesthetically pleasing way) was irrelevant to the contestants' chances of winning. In the words of one of their commercials prior to the first airing, "You don't have to sing it well; you just have to sing it right," a quote also used by The Singing Bee. FOX Version The structure of the show was similar to another FOX game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?, Lyrics’ cousin game show (except there was no $1,000 level, and the $2,000, $175,000, and $300,000 levels were raised to $2,500, $200,000, and $350,000, respectively). Contestants were given nine categories (such as "pop", "The Rolling Stones", or "divas"). Contestants would pick one of the categories. They were then given a choice of two different songs. The contestant then chose one of the songs and were told how many many missing words they would have to provide. The band would start to play the song and the lyrics were displayed on large monitors in front of the contestant, who would sing karaoke style. At some point, the lyrics were shown as blank spaces and the music stopped. The contestant then filled in those blank spaces. They could then decide to "lock in" the lyrics (which was the same effect as saying "Final Answer" on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?), choose one of the "backups", which were answer-assistance options that were similar to lifelines, or choose to walk away with the money they had won to that point. Lyric Colors *When the music played as they sang, the lyrics were white. *Lyrics were initially filled in with yellow text *As each lyric was locked in, the text changed to blue *Lyrics then revealed to be correct turned green *Lyrics that were incorrect turned red, which ended the game Sometimes a few words would turn green at a time rather than all of them at once, creating suspense; this was often done if one or more words would turn out to be wrong, and the incorrect word or words generally would show up in the final reveal. If the words were all correct, the contestant's score would increase to a higher amount, accompanied by music previously used for a correct answer on Show Me the Money (a shorter version of that music accompanied a reveal of part of the lyrics). Lyrics that turned red were incorrect (and if any were shown, this was accompanied by music previously used for an incorrect answer on Show Me the Money) and would result in different situations depending on the version. If the contestant locked in incorrect lyrics before hitting the $25,000 mark, all money earned to that point was lost; going for $25,000 after winning $10,000 was the last point in the game at which a contestant could leave with nothing. After passing the $25,000 mark, the contestant was guaranteed that amount; incorrect lyrics between the $50,000 and the $500,000 songs would knock the contestant's winnings down to $25,000. After nine correct answers, contestants could choose to go for the "Million-Dollar Song". Backups Similar to the "3 lifelines" concept from Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, there were three answer-assistance options, or "backups", that the contestant could use for help if they were stumped. *'Backup Singer' (analogous to the now-defunct "Phone a Friend" lifeline on Millionaire) – Allowed one of the contestant's two friends or family members the opportunity to help them by singing along with the contestant. Afterwards, the contestant was given the choice of sticking with their lyric or going with their backup singer's lyric if it was different. *'2 Words' – Allowed the contestant to choose any two of the missing words after they had answered but before the answer was locked in, and they would be told what those words were. When the player used this backup after selecting a word that was incorrect or missing as one of the two, it would automatically be corrected. *'3 Lines' – Gave the contestant a choice of three possible answers, of which one was the correct response. If the choices had common words within them, the lyrics would have the common words automatically turn green. It was possible to get the full line of the song correct with both the "3 Lines" and "2 Words" backups. Each backup could only be used once, and while the backup singer would still be available for the Million-Dollar Song (if it had not been already used) the other two backups would be revoked. Contestants could be required to use up their backups on the $500,000 song if they had not done so already, because there was a warning that, if a backup wasn't used on the $500,000 song when the backup(s) was/were available, the remaining unused backup option(s) would be automatically used (except for the backup singer) after the lyrics were locked in. Million-Dollar Song Contestants at the end of reaching the $500,000 level could risk the money for the Million-Dollar Song. There was no other information on the song revealed to the player other than that the song was a #1 hit from one of the nine categories featured in their game. Also revealed was that if the player did go on, the $25,000 guarantee was immediately increased to $100,000 (this was not so on 5th Grader because some contestants had already attempted the million-dollar question and lost, whereas no contestant ever attempted the Million-Dollar Song; prior to January 2008, the contestant would drop down to the $25,000 mark with an incorrect answer to the Million-Dollar Song; during this time, no one attempted it). Any remaining backups (excluding the backup singer) were revoked (taken away or out of play) after locking in the $500,000 song, and the other information was only revealed if the player decided to go for it. After the contestant sang, they could change it if they wanted, but they had the option to lock in something or walk away. If the lyrics to the Million-Dollar Song were incorrect or the contestant opted to walk away by not locking in the lyric, the contestant would leave with $100,000 (this happened only twice). If correct, the contestant won $1,000,000. No contestants won $1,000,000, but seven players reached the final level. Two decided to play for the Million-Dollar Song and failed, while the other five (including one team) decided not to play the Million-Dollar Song and walk away with $500,000. A different sound was used for locked-in incorrect lyrics on the Million-Dollar Song. Syndicated Version The format was based on the syndicated changes to fellow 20th Television game show Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?. One contestant played the entire show, and would play four songs from four different categories. Each song correctly increased the player's winnings as follows: If any incorrect lyrics were sung, no money was won or lost. The 2010 version only used the 3 Lines backup. Encore Song After playing all four categories, the player could attempt the Encore Song or stop. If the player won $10,000 at this point, the Encore Song was worth $50,000 if sung correctly, with a $1,000 guarantee in case of a miss. If a contestant gave an incorrect answer at any previous level, the player's winnings would be doubled should he/she correctly sing the Encore Song. Again, the song was a #1 hit from one of the four categories and a loss of $5,000 or less gave them a custom MP3 player (this was the only way to leave with no cash). Merchandise A Board Game based on the FOX version was released by Parker Brothers in 2008. (NOTE: Wayne Brady is on the cover of the game) DontForget.jpg An iOS game based on the FOX version was released by Hands-On Mobile in 2009. (NOTE: The game features a simulated Wayne Brady as its host) mzl.ccxuferi.320x480-75.jpg mzl.vzqdfphp.320x480-75.jpg Music Main Theme - "China Grove" by Rickey Minor Studio CBS Television City International Versions Countries that have done their own versions of Don't Forget the Lyrics! include: *Austria *Canada *Chile *Croatia *Denmark *Egypt *France *Greece *Hungary *India *Indonesia *Iran *Israel *Italy *Malaysia *Mexico *Montenegro *New Zealand *Nigeria *Norway *Poland *Russia *Singapore *Slovakia *Spain *Taiwan *Thailand *Tunisia *United Kingdom *Vietnam Rating Similar Show The Singing Bee Links FOX version (via Internet Archive) Syndicated version (via Internet Archive) Category:Themed Quiz Category:Music Category:Gambling Category:Big Prize Category:FOX shows Category:Network shows Category:Primetime shows Category:Daytime shows Category:Syndicated shows Category:VH1 Shows Category:MyNetworkTV shows Category:20th Century Fox Television Category:Disney/ABC Television Category:Short-Running Category:Flops Category:Revivals Category:2007 premieres Category:2009 endings Category:2010 premieres Category:2011 endings